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Hennessy climbed up the 8ft to 10ft high perimeter fence at the palace

In a police interview, he told officers he had "walked through the gardens admiring the view".

Mr Nicholson said: "At the point when the defendant entered the site, Her Majesty the Queen was in residence along with the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke of York.

"It caused them significant inconvenience."

When he was interviewed by officers the following day, he accepted "he should not be there", Mr Nicholson said.

"He said he did not see the signs. He walked through the gardens admiring the view and he was shocked to see the police officers.

"He was sorry for the trouble he had caused."

Sikander Choudry, defending, said the unemployed stonemason had been drinking before the incident.

"He had an appointment in the Jobcentre in Wembley where he lives. He attended it and after that appointment he went to have some drink. He had four or five cans of cider," Mr Choudry said.

He then went to meet a friend in central London, and on his way to Victoria he had another drink in a pub before deciding to climb the Palace wall, using a nearby tree for support.

But he said: "Mr Hennessy did not have any malicious intent towards the royal family - that's not the reason he went to Buckingham Palace."

Buckingham Palace break-ins

Tue, August 9, 2016

Today a 22 year old man from Croydon has been arrested on suspicion of trespassing after allegedly climbing over a security fence at Buckingham Palace while drunk.
This isn't the first incident of it's kind: we take a look at the break-ins the Palace has faced over the years.

"Mr Hennessy did not have any malicious intent towards the royal family - that's not the reason he went to Buckingham Palace."

Defence team

The hearing also revealed the intruder is actually a convicted murderer and was on licence after being found guilty of killing a homeless man in 1992, and was sentenced to life in 1993.

Reports from the time of the murder state that Hennessy attacked Kevin Cusack, 45, with an iron bar in Neasden, north-west London.

His injuries included a 'flattened' skull, with virtually every bone fractured while broken fragments of his dentures were found seven feet away.

A senior detective said it was the most gruesome killing he'd seen in 27 years with the police.

Today chief magistrate, senior district judge Howard Riddle, sentenced Hennessy to four months for trespassing and two months, to run concurrently, for damaging the wires of the alarm system.

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The Queen was in residence at the time of the incident

He said: "What stands out is that Mr Hennessy made the most determined effort to enter the grounds.

"He knew precisely where he was and he repeatedly asked if the Queen was in residence.

"It's an aggravating factor that the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke of York were in residence."

His intrusion led to "serious consequences" and the alarm would need to be "refixed", Judge Riddle said.

He added: "In 1993 at the Old Bailey, he was convicted of murder, a particularly brutal murder as it happens - that's an aggravating factor."

Armed police reviewed the palace's security systems last night over fears the Queen and Royal Family could be at risk of further breaches.

Ken Wharfe, a former bodyguard for Princess Diana and Princes William and Harry, said: "It took seven minutes to find this guy, which is a hell of a long time. Ten seconds is a long time, a minute is a long time.

"In 10 seconds you could run 50 yards, at the bottom end of the Palace that would take you into the front door of where the Queen lives, that's how accessible the Palace is from the perimeter wall at the bottom end.

There have been several security breaches at Buckingham Palace in the past, including that of Michael Fagan who got into the Queen's bedroom in 1982 and spent 10 minutes talking to her before she managed to raise the alarm.

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The Queen and Royal family were still able to enjoy a garden party after the incident

In 2003, Daily Mirror journalist Ryan Parry exposed security flaws by getting a job as a footman at the palace using a false reference.

Ten years later in 2013, a man scaled a fence and was arrested inside the palace in a room which was open to the public in the daytime.

Last year two men got on to the palace roof and unveiled a banner in a protest over fathers' rights.

"Once somebody is over that wall, unless you catch them immediately there's no telling where that person might go."

A Palace spokesman said: "We never comment on security, which is a matter for the police."